Sexual Tension, Innuendoes & Lots of Complications
by Max DeLuca
Summary: Last chapter. Yay.
1. 1

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, no money was made here

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, no money was made here.

***

Seattle, Washington

June 20th, 2018

10:00 PM

There she sat, watching as the unsuspecting people below her went about their lives as they had for as long as she could remember.

She wondered what it was like before all this. When things still worked and lives were easier. When terrorists _hadn't _yet decided to mess everything up. 

_It's not like things would be any different for me. _In fact, those terrorists probably made her life easier- with everything erased, no one could find her. 

Or hunt her. 

Or kill her.

She could be completely alone. Which, at times, really, really, sucked. Big time. 

_Oh well. I better get down before this piece of shit collapses._ She was on top of the Space Needle. She liked to be up high to think. It was sort of a reminder of life before the Pulse. Now almost completely ruined. 

She climbed down and headed for home. If you could call it that. It was just an abandoned building. They had to bribe the cops just to let them stay there each week when they checked for squatters. She had moved in a few months earlier- but more importantly- she had found a roommate. She could easily survive on her own- but sometimes she just hated the loneliness- so she found Kendra. Someone to talk to, and trust. Well, almost. She hadn't exactly told Kendra _everything_. 

She hadn't told her that she was a soldier. Genetically engineered to kill. She hadn't told anyone for that matter. In fact, she was trying to forget herself.

~ ~ ~

June 21st, 2018

6:00 AM

Max and Kendra's apartment

"Hey Max," Kendra said, with a yawn. "Why're you up so early?" 

The truth was, Max pretty much never really slept at all. Kendra didn't know this. 

"Got another interview today. Jam Pony Messenger Service," Max replied.

"Have fun," Kendra said. "Good luck."

"Thanks," she said.

But Max didn't really know what "luck" was. At least, she never got any. But hopefully if she could get this job she wouldn't have to steal so much. Now stealing would be more of a hobby- not her full time job. It's not like she didn't enjoy stealing. She was always up for a challenge. Mostly because none ever came up. 

"You don't work here. Now unless you want to deliver this package for me for free, kindly scoot yourself on out of here," the man behind the desk said to her has she walked into Jam Pony. 

"My name's Max. I'm here for an interview," she said, resisting her urge to spill all the comebacks just sitting on her tongue. _You need this job_, she kept reminding herself. _Don't blow it. Even if this guy is an ass._

"Ah yes, Max. You're twenty minutes early. I like that in a bike messenger," he said. "I'm Ron but everyone insists on calling me Normal. So If you want to blend in, my name's Normal."

"Duly noted," Max said as she was looking around. Blending in is definitely good. 

"You don't really need to be interviewed for this job. You can read, right?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"You're hired. If you screw up you're fired. If you're late you're fired. Deal?" Normal asked. 

"Deal," Max said.

"Don't mention it. I was blessed with great people skills. Here's your first run. Congratulations."

She walked over to a table and saw three people hanging out there.

"Hey," she said. "I'm Max. I'm new here."

"Hey," the other girl replied.

"Wassup?" one of the guys said.

"Ah'm Herbal. Tis nahce ta have met you, Max. Tis all good in all tings," the other guy said, his words caked in a heavy Jamaican accent. 

"I'm Original Cindy. That's Sketchy," the girl said.

"I gotta go on this run. Anyone know where Alden Drive is?" Max asked.

"Come on," Original Cindy said with a sigh. "I'll show you."

"Thanks," Max said, hesitantly. She wasn't used to taking help from people she didn't know. 

"So what's your story?" Original Cindy asked while they were riding.

"Just another chick trying to get by in this hellhole of a city," Max lied. Of course she couldn't tell anyone anything before she trusted them. _Really_ trusted them. And she didn't trust anyone. 

"Here's Alden," Cindy said. "What's the number?"

"818749," Max said. 

"OK. Over here," Cindy said as she walked up to the house. "Hey! I think I dated this bitch once! Dumped her ass when she tells me she's straight. Didn't seem too straight to me." A woman came to the door. She looked surprised to see Cindy- but she obviously still had a thing for her. She didn't even seem to notice Max standing there.

"Package," Max said. The woman didn't say anything- she was too busy staring at Original Cindy with an idiotic smile on her face.

"Yo! Package! Come on. Pay attention here," Max said, quite annoyed at being ignored.

"Oh, sorry," the woman said. She signed the slip Max handed her. Max was loudly chewing her gum and tapping her foot, indicating to the woman to move it along. Max traded the woman the package for the slip.

"Thank you very much. You have a pleasant day now!" Max said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Original Cindy smiled. 

"You're gonna do just fine in the messenger business, girl. You aiight," Original Cindy said to Max. They both got on their bikes and went back to Jam Pony. 

Max did 15 runs that day. Normal was obviously trying to work her ass hard since it was her first day to see if she could take it or whatever. But he was impressed with her energy. She probably could have done about 50 but she didn't want to stand out. She said goodbye to Original Cindy, Sketchy, and Herbal and started home on her bike. When she got home Kendra was gone. There was a note from her on the counter.

Sorry Max- Michael called and we're going out. Don't expect me back for awhile. There's some food in the fridge.

-Kendra

Max was somewhat disappointed. She had accomplished a lot that day. Got a job, made some friends. She wanted to tell Kendra. And since she doesn't sleep… well… it was going to be a _very_ boring night.

Seattle, Washington

June 21st , 2018

9:00 AM

"This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city. If anyone is wondering why flood victims in Michigan have been abandoned by the relief effort, a wise direction to look would be to Raul Xuebere. His small co-owned corporation for food collections for charities around the world has been cutting corners since the pulse hit, and, most recently, pulled out of the Midwest entirely, just after his partner turned up dead. Extorting supplies for himself from generous benefactors, this man is currently fleeing police action in Seattle, and should be considered armed and very dangerous. This is Eyes Only. Peace. Out." 

He got up and went into the kitchen for dinner. He was something of an expert chef. He lived alone and worked alone. Except for his sources. He was exposing all the bad people in the world because he had this _crazy_ idea that it could be a better place. 

At least he was trying.

Riiiiiing!

"Peterson," Logan answered.

"Hey, it's me. Got a lead on Xuebere. He's hiding out at Westing's Warehouse on 43rd," the voice on the other end of the line said. 

"Great. Thanks. I'll get some people on it," Logan said. 

He went into his living room to finish his dinner. He was one of the few people in the city who could actually afford a house with more than one room. He had inherited a lot of money from his parents when they died and he decided to use it to help the downtrodden and less fortunate. Except the thing is, everyone is less fortunate. 

He turned the TV on.

"…and after they mate, the female will jump onto the male and devour hi-" 

click

"…the cheetah can run at speeds of over 50 miles per hou-" 

click

"…every night, the owl will fly around searching for mice and other small roden-"

He turns the TV off. 

_Nothing's on. _So he eats alone. And in silence. For about the thousandth night in a row. _This bites,_ he thought. Even the freedom fighter is allowed to be a pessimist once in awhile. After he finished his dinner, he went right back to work.

"I need to speak to Detective Brock," he said into the phone.

"One moment please!" said the too-cheery secretary.

"Brock," Logan heard after a moment.

"I need you to send some people down to Westing's Warehouse on 43rd as soon as possible. My sources tell me that Xuebere's hangin out down there," Logan said.

"Can do. Thanks a lot," said Detective Brock.

Logan hung up the phone and sat in silence for a minute. He decided to go down to the Warehouse the next day and check it out himself. 

~ ~ ~

June 22nd, 2018

10:00 PM

Westing's Warehouse 

Logan was walking around outside the warehouse, trying to act normal- trying to not draw attention to himself. He didn't want anyone to think he was snooping. After he was absolutely sure that he was completely alone, he went up to the window and looked inside. But to his surprise, Xuebere wasn't in there. And no one who could have worked for him was in there either. But what he saw in there was a girl. The most beautiful girl he had ever seen. A thief. She was dressed all in black and carrying a black bag. She suddenly looked up and started towards the door. He heard a car drive up, so he hid in the shadows. Four men got out of the car- and went into the warehouse. Logan looked into the window again. He saw the surprise on the men's faces when they saw this beautiful girl in their hideout. And he saw this beautiful girl take out four grown men with one kick and run out of the building- bag still in hand. He watched her as she ran down the street. 

June 22nd, 2018

9:00 PM

Max's Apartment

Max had been sitting around for hours after Kendra left trying to think of things to do and waiting for Kendra to get home. So she decided she would work on her little "hobby". She changed out of her work clothes and headed over to Westing's Warehouse. While she was at work she had seen the Eyes Only broadcast and figured there must be something she could fence at an extortionist's hideout. She got on her bike and went over there.

9:50 PM

Westing's Warehouse

When she got to the warehouse, she was surprised to find no one inside. _Some criminal,_ she thought. _Leaves his hideout unguarded and unlocked. Really smart. _She went inside and looked around. The found two grand, in cash, in a drawer. After she looked around for about ten minutes, she felt like she was being watched. Through the window. She looked over there- but the guy in the window didn't know she looked. The guy had funny spiky hair and crystal blue eyes, with little glasses. Suddenly she heard a car drive up and heard people walking up to the door. 

"Hey! What're you doing in here?" one of the guys asks her.

"Sorry I can't stay boys, but I gotta blaze. A girl's got things to do," she said, followed by her jumping up six feet and kicking each one in the face, knocking them all to the ground. She's out of there like a flash, running down the street. She can feel the guy from the window's eyes on her as she runs away.

June 23rd, 2018

4:00 AM

Max's Apartment

"Where have you been?" Max asked as Kendra walked in the door. 

"On the worst date of my life," Kendra replied. Max could see now that her makeup was smeared and her dress was torn.

"What happened?" Max asked.

"Michael couldn't keep his hands to himself. We started out OK but then he just went a little too far for a second date. We got into a little fight," she said.

"Are you OK?" Max asked.

"Yeah. I think I showed him not to mess with me again," Kendra said with a smile.

"Go!" Max said. 

"So," Kendra said. "What did you do tonight? Besides wait up for me."

"Oh… nothing interesting. Robbed a criminal, beat up four guys at once. You know, the usual," Max said. 

"You're crazy, Max. Night," Kendra said. She laughed as she went into her bedroom.

June 24th, 2018

11:00 AM

Logan's Apartment

Logan hadn't stopped thinking about the girl he saw for that whole day. He needed to know who she was. He couldn't eat or sleep. He was distracted from his work. He had to know. So he started searching all of his files- except that he didn't really have anything to go on except that she had dark curly hair. And she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. But this fact wasn't exactly going to help him find her on his computer. So all he could do was hope that she had a job so that her picture would be on file. 

-Six hours later-

"Yes!" he had found it. 

"Max Guevara," he said. "18 years old. Bicycle messenger at Jam Pony." He looked at his watch. 

"Dammit," he said. "5:00. I probably missed her." So he decided he would go over to Jam Pony the next day and find her, since it would probably be a little creepy for her if he went over to her house and said "Hi, I'm Logan. I saw you in the window and thought you was real perdy."

June 25th, 2018

8:30 AM

Streets of Seattle

Normal was working their asses off today. Max had only been at work for an hour and a half and she'd already done six runs. At least Herbal was out there with her on this one. 

"Tis da craziast of tings," Herbal started.

"What is?" Max asked. She had gotten used to Herbal's accent quickly.

"Normal. Da man is crazy! He cannot espect us to do mo than two runs pa haur!" he answered. 

"I know! Just because he's in charge doesn't mean he can work our asses so hard," Max said.

"Actually, tats esactly what it means," Herbal said after a moment. 

They got to the house and gave them the package. Then they got back on their bikes and headed back towards Jam Pony.

-Jam Pony-

"Hello, sir, how may I help you?" Normal asked as Logan walked into Jam Pony. 

"I'm looking for someone," Logan told him. "Max Guevara. I was told she works here?"

"Why, what did she do?" Normal asked.

"Nothing… I just need to talk to her," Logan answered.

"She's supposed to be out on a run right now," Normal told him. "But you can check around with these slackers if you want."

"Thanks," Logan said. 

He sat around for about ten minutes until he saw her come in through the door. He went over to her, seeing the surprised look on her face. She tried to hide it and walked right past him. He followed her over to her locker.

"Hey," he said to her.

"Hey," she replied, not even looking at him. 

"You're Max, right?" he asked.

"That's what it says on my name tag," she said.

"Are you the one who I saw at Westing's Warehouse last night?" he asked after a moment. She stopped moving for a second and looked at him. 

"So you're the one who was spying on me," she said.

"I was _not_ spying," he said.

"Right," she said. "Then what, may I ask, _were_ you doing?"

"I _simply_ saw the Eyes Only broadcast and decided to check out the warehouse," Logan answered.

"That's not very smart," Max said to him. "You know that criminals hang around out there. It's not safe."

"You certainly took care of yourself nicely," Logan stated. "Those guys were out cold." 

"Yeah, well. A girls gotta know how to fight if she wants to get by in our predominantly male society," she answered.

"I guess," Logan said.

"So what're you doing here?" Max asked him.

"I had to find out who you were," Logan answered. "I've never seen or met a girl like you."

"I'm sure you haven't," Max said. "But you really don't know anything about me. And I don't know anything about you - although I think I have you pinpointed somewhere between pervert and stalker."

"I know I don't know anything about you. But I'd like to," Logan said to her as she started to walk away. She stopped and turned back to him.

"Now I'm leaning closer to pervert. That was one of the worst pickup lines I've ever heard," Max said, still walking away. 

"No, you don't understa-" Logan started.

"I understand fine. I'm just a regular girl. Now leave me alone or you'll be the one out cold," Max said angrily.

"Fine," Logan said with a sigh. He turned toward the door and started to walk out. Before he did he heard Max talking to Original Cindy.

"Yo, Max! See you at Crash tonight?" Original Cindy asked her. 

"Seven," Max replied.

So- Logan was going to see Max tonight- at Crash. Because he just _happened_ to be going there at seven too.

"Max hot run Daser Street," Normal yelled as he threw a package at her.

"I'm on break," she told him as she threw it back. 

"Not anymore you aren't. Now get out of here. I said it was a hot run," Normal said, once again throwing the package back at her. 

__

"Fine!" she yelled with a sigh. "But when I get back I'm on break."

"Thanks, Max. You're the greatest," Normal said with sarcasm.

June 25th, 2018

6:45 PM

Crash

Logan had been waiting at Crash for half an hour, hoping Max would show early. He wasn't looking forward to her reaction when she found him there. He had done a lot of research on Max that day- and he pretty much found out everything there was to know about her. 

Everything. 

He waited there for her until she showed up at 7:15. She looked even better than when he saw her before. It didn't matter, though- she could basically kill him with one finger, no sense in trying anything stupid. He went up to the top floor of the club and watched her dance down below. He saw her look up at him and the smile on her face was replaced with an expression of pure disgust. He waved at her sweetly. Although she had lost her smile, Logan was still beaming. She got off the dance floor and started up the steps toward him. 

"So, what, are you just gonna follow me everywhere I go now?" she asked him.

"Maybe. But this meeting was _purely_ chance, I assure you," he told her. 

"Oh, I'm sure," she said. She started back down the stairs toward Original Cindy and Sketchy.

"Max, wait," Logan called after her.

"How _did_ you find my name, anyway? And what's your name?" Max asked him.

"I did some research. Very extensive research. Logan Cale," he told her. Max got extremely uncomfortable at this point. _Oh shit. How much can he know?_

"You wanna go for a walk with me?" Logan asked her after there was silence for about five minutes.

__

"Sure," she said, hesitantly.

"Great."

~ ~ ~ 

"So- Logan. What's your story? Why did you just _have_ to find me?" Max asked, trying to find out just how much he had found out. 

"Well, like I said earlier, I've never met or seen a girl like you," he said again. "Don't know what it was. I just had to know everything about you."

"So, what did your research tell you?" she asked him.

"Well… I know about you and your "siblings,"" he told her, seeing if he should go any farther. She looked away from him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Max told him, still looking away.

"Yes you do, Max. You don't need to lie. I'm not the enemy," Logan reassured her.

"Still," Max said. "I can't trust anyone. I don't even know you. Sorry." Logan was very disappointed at this. 

"OK," he said. "Here's my number, if you ever change your mind."

"I _sincerely_ doubt that will happen. But OK," she said as she took the piece of paper he gave her. She turned around and headed back toward the club.

"Max?" Logan called after her.

"Yeah?" she said, without turning around.

"You don't have to worry," he told her. She stopped walking for a second. Then she went back to the club and left Logan standing in the street. 

~ ~ ~ 

June 25th, 2018

11:00 PM

Space Needle

_How could he have found out? I didn't know there were still records of me that you could get. I thought that when the pulse fried the computers it erased all the records. Oh well. I guess I better just be more careful from now on. I really didn't want to walk away from Logan on the street. It felt horrible. What if he could help me find the others? I'm going to have to find him again and ask for his help. I better go home. Kendra's probably waiting up._

July 16th, 2018

10:00 AM

Streets of Seattle

"What has been up with you this week?" Original Cindy asked Max as they were riding. They both had a run to do in the same area so they biked together. Max had been really spaced out for the past week or two. No one knew what was up with her.

"Nothing," she lied. "Here's the building. I'll be right back." Max disappeared into the building. While she was on the elevator she looked at the package. She recognized the phone number- Logan. The name on the package was Caleb Stile. _Who is this guy and why does he have to use fake names? _She decided against knocking on the door and opened it up herself. She walked in as quietly as she could and looked around. No sight of Logan. She heard soft talking coming from the back of the apartment, so she went to see if it was him.

"…This has been an eyes only streaming freedom video bulletin. Peace. Out."

Suddenly Logan came around the corner and saw her there. 

"AH! Oh my god, Max. You scared me," Logan said with his hand over his chest.

"_You're_ eyes only?" Max asked.

"Ah… well, I guess I can't really lie, so…"

"You don't seem too worried that your secret's out," Max said to him. 

"I think I can trust you."

"I guess," Max said. 

"So how did you find out that I lived here?" Logan asked her.

"I recognized your phone number on the package. Sign there," she told him as she handed him the slip to sign. He signed it and gave it back to her. 

"I would have thought that eyes only would lock his doors. There's a lot of people out there who want your head," Max told him.

"I know. Wouldn't want anyone to think I was hiding something," Logan said. "There's this old woman a floor above me who sometimes thinks this is her apartment. I used to lock it and one day she came and tried to open the door. She thought she locked herself out and she was out there for hours." Max laughed. Logan was staring.

"So what else did your research tell you about me?" Max asked him, to break the silence. If he could help her get closer to finding any of the kids who escaped with her that night, she was going to have to take a chance and trust this guy with her secret. 

"That you were genetically engineered. A soldier. And you escaped after nine years of training," he told her. 

"There were others. Do you know anything about them?" Max asked him. 

"Twelve of you escaped that night," he said. He noticed that her eyes were all watery.

"Twelve?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes. "Are you sure?" 

"Yes," he said. "100%. Look, Max- I'm not going to tell anyone. You can trust me. And if there's anything I can ever help you with- just ask."

"So… what is this, a business arrangement? You help me, I help you?"

"If you want." Max thought for a second.

"Aright." She had no idea where that one word would lead her life.

November 5th, 2019 (Over a year later)

9:00 PM

Streets of Seattle

Beep! Beep! Beep! Max was on her Ninja, heading home for the day, when her pager went off. _Logan, what do you want now?_ Secretly, she had been hoping to hear from him. She'd rather go over to his place than sit around at home all evening, listening to Kendra and her boy in the next room. She turned her bike around and headed toward his apartment.

"You rang, I ran, what's up?" Max asked as she came through his door. 

"Oh, nothing… I just wanted you to come over for dinner. Seeing as I made all this food, and… yeah," he said.

"Oh. I thought it was something more serious. Like you were in trouble or something," Max said.

"Nope."

"Pity," Max said as she walked past him into the kitchen. "So what's cooking?" Logan laughed. 

"Just something I whipped up," he called after her. She walked into the dining room to find the entire table covered with different foods and candlelight. 

"Wow," she said as she looked over everything. "And you just had this lying around?"

"Yup," he answered.

"You're going to spoil me, Logan," she said as she sat down for dinner. "If you don't stop this I'll never leave." 

"That's OK. Like I said, I made too much food," he told her again as he sat down at the table with her. "So what have you been up to? I haven't seen you for… what's it been? Three days?"

"That long? I haven't really been doing anything. Work, work, work. You know, the usual. What about you?"

"Work, work, work. You know, the usual," he said. 

"Did you find anything new on the other kids?" Max asked, changing the subject. Logan had found out about two of them- Jondi and Zack. He wasn't sure where any of them were yet, though. 

"No, not recently," he told her. He was actually sort of scared that if he did find anything big, she might have to leave. It's not like he was in love with her. He had been alone for years and suddenly this beautiful, awesome girl comes and spends pretty much all her time with him. Of course he'd become attached. Right.

They sat in nervous silence for a few minutes, each barely poking at their food. 

"So how have you been?" Logan asked, trying to break the silence. 

"Pretty good. You?" she asked, looking up for a fraction of a second and quickly back down. 

"OK. I got more pills in case you need em," he told her.

"Thanks. Seizures have been pretty light lately, but I'll probably need them soon. How much do I owe you?"

"It's on me. I figured _I_ owed you."

"Thanks."

"You already said that."

"Yeah." She seemed really distant that night- like something was on her mind. She was being just a little too nice for the Max he knew. But Logan had figured out long ago not to ask. 

"You OK?" he asked, after another silence that seemed to last forever. "You seem kinda spacey."

"Aren't I always?" she replied, with a smile. _Ah. Must not be too bad if she can still be sarcastic. _But then she returned to staring at her food. Logan was getting tired of this, so he quickly finished. 

"Wanna go beat me at chess?" he asked her. She laughed quietly.

"I'm kind of tired," she told him.

"Really? You can go home if you want to." He was surprised that she was tired. She never got tired. 

"Kendra's got a date. Wouldn't want to stumble in on anything. I promised I'd stay out of her hair tonight. OK if I crash here?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, Logie," she smiled as she quickly left the room. He cringed at that horrible nickname that had developed over the months. 

Max lay down on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly. As she fell deeper and deeper into sleep, she started dreaming…

_…what the hell…where am I? "Logan! Hey!" _She tried to yell out across the huge crimson-tinted lake she was standing by, but he didn't hear her. No sound came out of her mouth. He just kept on walking. So she watched him. He was looking for something. _"Max? Max, where are you?"_ he called. She tried to call out to him. He looked so sad and lost. He sat down and buried his face in his hands. She wanted to run over, but she couldn't move. She kept trying to yell out, but nothing worked. 

*********

After Max went into her room, Logan picked up all the dishes and put them in the sink. Then he went over to his computer to do some work, until he heard very quiet whimpering coming from Max's room. He decided to go see if she was ok. 

"Max?" he whispered, very quietly, as he opened the door. He didn't want to wake her up. She was lying on the bed, still with her regular clothes on. She hadn't even bothered to take off her shoes. He heard her mumbling something. 

"… Logan…" she said, barely loud enough for him to hear. He sat down next to her on the bed and brushed a few hairs out of her face.

"…Logan… right here!" she said, louder this time. She was fidgeting around on the bed, rolling her head back and forth. Logan didn't know what to do. She called out, even louder. He was sitting closer to her now, trying to calm her down.

"Shhh, Max… it's ok…" he said as he stroked her hair.

"I can't move! Oh please, Logan, you have to hear me!" she whimpered. He leaned over her and shook her shoulders gently. 

"It's ok, Max… it's just a dream… wake up…" he said in a quiet voice. Suddenly her eyes opened and she looked up at him. 

"Are you ok?" she asked him. She sat up and looked at him, the concern plain on her face.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a dream. Go back to sleep."

"Oh… good…" she said drowsily. She laid back down and closed her eyes. He sat by her for a few more minutes as she fell asleep. Then he got up and unlaced her shoes and took them off, being careful not to wake her up. He went over to a chair that had a quilt folded on it and put it over her. He closed her door as quietly as he could and went back to his computer.

*******

Max woke up to the smell of pancakes and bacon. She ran her brush through her hair a few times and went out into the kitchen. 

"Morning," she said as she took a sip of the juice he had poured for her. 

"How'd ya sleep?"

"Pretty good…" She trailed off, faintly remembering her dream. Logan had a very slight grin on his face.

"What?" she asked, upon seeing him. She stopped munching on the food and put her hands on her hips, giving him her full attention. 

"Nothing," he told her, still beaming. "Come on, let's go eat." She piled a bunch of food on her plate and followed him to the table. 

"So how late did you sit up?" She was hoping it wasn't too late, because she felt sort of bad for ditching him and retreating to her room after he let her stay. 

"Don't worry, _mom_, I went to bed at a reasonable hour," he said, as his smile got even bigger. She glared at him for a second, but kept eating. 

"So whatcha gonna do today?" she asked. "You're not just gonna sit around here all day, right?"

"I have work to do. I'm sort of swamped."

"Aww, come on, can't it wait another day?" she asked him. 

"Why… what did you have in mind…" he asked, hesitantly.

"Wanna come to Crash? Meetin Cindy tonight," she asked hopefully.

"I don't know… I really should get this work done…"

"Come on, Logan, you never let yourself have any fun," she said pleadingly. "Pleeease?" _That _made him smile. She _never _pleaded for _anything._

"O….K… I guess…"

"Cool. Meet you at seven?" She asked.

"But Max-" 

"Thanks for lettin me stay. And breakfast. Gotta get to work!" she told him as she put on her jacket. 

"Max, wait-" but he got cut off by the slam of his door. 

*********

7:05 PM

Crash

"You did what?" Original Cindy asked, surprised and angry that her friend had altered their night's plans without telling her. For a male. 

"I invited Logan to hang with us. He's cool. Trust me," Max reassured her, as she looked around for him. He was only five minutes late, but she started to think he wasn't coming. 

"I do trust you, Boo. It's _him_ I don't trust," she pointed towards the door as Logan came in, looking less than happy when a huge biker chick came onto him.

"Back off, sister, this one's mine," Max told the woman as she took Logan's hand and led him over to their table. Logan was grateful but embarrassed that Max had to save him. 

"Hey," Logan said to Cindy after she sat there and stared at him for about fifteen seconds. Suddenly she looked at her wrist.

"Oh look, time to go."

"You're not wearing a watch," Max said quietly through gritted teeth. She smiled sweetly over at Logan. 

"So?" she got up and walked by Max, who grabbed her arm. 

"Please don't leave," she whispered. "I need someone else here."

"You've got your boyfriend."

"He's not-"

"Later!" she called as she went out the door. Max watched the door for a few seconds, as if expecting her to come back. She turned around and looked at Logan, who was smiling. Max, on the other hand, didn't see the humor. 

"You didn't tell her I was coming."

"No, Logan, that's not why she left," Max tried to reassure him that it wasn't his fault. 

"Yeah it is. I mean, it's fine. I've got a bad case of the third wheel. Sorry."

"She was in a bad mood today, anyway. I'm sure she'll stay some other time."

"Yeah," he said, with just a _hint_ of sarcasm. They sat for a moment, neither talking. _Well this is awkward_, they both thought. 

"Wanna go dance?" she asked him. He stared at her for a second, thinking she was kidding.

"Are you serious?" Logan asked her after a few seconds. 

"Yeah, come on. It'll be fun," she started dragging him away from the table, towards the dance floor. She started dancing and tried to pull him over. He just stood and watched with a smile on his face. She stopped.

"What?"

"What?"

"I asked you first," she told him.

"I'm not really…"

"What?!" she asked, growing impatient. 

"Can we go?" he asked her, not looking forward to her response. She could get _very_ angry _very_ easily. 

"Why?"

"This isn't really my kind of place."

"Well then what, may I ask, _is_ your kind of place, Mr. Cale?"

"My apartment, maybe?"

"Hmmm… nope, sorry. No deal."

"Damn. You can't keep me here against my will, you know."

"Oh yes I can. Or have you forgotten about my strange little life?" he looked at her for a second, trying to win her over with his pleading eyes. "Fine, go."

"Stayin here?" he asked her. 

"Yeah, gonna wait for Cindy to show."

"Suit yourself."

"Later." She watched him leave, sighed, and went over to her table.

11:00 PM

Logan's Apartment

Max opened the door silently and went into Logan's apartment. The only sign of life was the sound of the keyboard clicking. She peeked into his office without him noticing. 

"Whatcha working on?" she asked him. He looked over to her, surprised she had come over. She always dropped in unexpectedly, but after their crappy evening…

"What, no hello?" 

"I got pretty bored with waiting for Cindy, and I'm not tired so I thought I'd come over here and pester you for awhile."

"Just doing some research. Lhite's got his guys everywhere… I still can't figure out what he's smuggling. I'm gonna need you to do a little legwork for me tomorrow. And I know it's your day off, so you've got no excuse."

"Why should I help you, after you ditched me at Crash tonight?" she asked, eagerly awaiting his response. 

"I did _not_ ditch you."

"You so _totally_ did."

"Come here," he said to her as he got up and went into his living room. She followed him. He went over to his stereo and turned on some music. "I didn't dance at Crash, so I guess I owe you." He held out his hand to her, and she took it, hesitantly. He pulled her in very tight and put his hand on the small of her back. They danced for a minute before anyone said anything. 

"Isn't this a little romantic?" she asked him, jokingly. He didn't answer, and she stopped talking. They danced that way for a few more minutes until the song ended. They stopped dancing and just stood there for a minute until Max realized that they weren't moving anymore. She looked at Logan and they pulled away from each other. 

"So what do you want me to do for you tomorrow?" He didn't say anything for a minute, but just kept looking at her, slightly dazed. 

"Oh. I need you to go to…" he went quickly into his office and picked up a small piece of paper off his desk. He came back and handed it to her. "…this address. Look out for Lhite, and listen in on the conversation. I got a lead he's meeting his buyer there at ten. I need you to tell me everything you hear so I can figure out what he's smuggling out of the U.S."

"OK. 10:00. Lhite. Got it." She wondered what to say next, still hazy from what happened a few minutes before. "Gotta blaze. Kendra told me she'd wait up."

"See ya." She started towards the door, but turned back before she walked out. 

"Thanks for the dance," she told him. He nodded. She turned around and left. 

November 7th, 2019

9:57 PM

Ramundo Lhite's Rendezvous Point 

Max had been at the address Logan gave her for an hour, snooping around. She heard footsteps, so she leaped up onto the roof of an abandoned building and flattened herself against it. She looked down and saw Lhite, meeting up with another man. She took out a tiny camera Logan had given her and took a few pictures. 

"You got 'em?" the guy asked Lhite.

"Yeah," he replied. "Seven hundred. They're holdin em at Dock 9 at the harbor. That should be enough to hold em back until we can get reinforcements. But you gotta get these over the border in twenty hours, otherwise the shipment's no good. I got word they're bringing in a thousand as we speak. And their weapons are much better than ours. If you don't get these over there fast, we're gonna have a whole lot of dead soldiers on our hands. Got it?"

"Yeah. I'll get them on the next boat." Max took a few more pictures, running through the conversation a few times in her head, making sure she wouldn't forget a word. She watched as the two men split up. She followed the man who was going to bring her straight to where this deal was taking place. _A little legwork._ _Right._

*********

She followed the car to the docks, where the weapons were being held. She was still confused why they needed the weapons. _There must be some kind of mini-war going on we don't know about. Government never fails to disappoint._ She saw a group of seven workmen lifting huge crates onto a boat. She listened in on the conversation as a briefcase was passed between the man she had followed and a different man. She took some more pictures. 

"Sixty large?" he asked. The other man nodded. 

"Yeah. And it wasn't easy to get, either. Boss had to kill a lot of people to get that."

"Let's just hope he covered his tracks." The two men split up and each drove away in their own cars. Six of the workmen left, while the seventh, who was also the biggest, was standing outside the ship as if guarding it. Max slipped silently out of the shadows and went over to the man without him noticing. She jammed her elbow into his face and he fell over. She leaned over into his face. 

"Sorry," she said, softly, to the unconscious man. She slipped onto the boat and found one of the crates. She ripped one of the wooden boards off of it and found about twenty different weapons inside. She took out her camera and took some pictures of the crates, the inside of the ship, and the outside of the ship. Then she headed back towards Logan's place to give him the info. She hoped he was still up.

********** 

Logan's Apartment

1:00 AM

"Logan? Are you up?" Max said quietly as she opened the door. There was no reply, so she went back to his little office to see if he was working. He had dozed off sitting in the chair at his computer. She didn't want to wake him up, but she wasn't sure how important this stuff was. It must have been important, judging by his valiant attempt at waiting up for her.

"Logan…" she said as she picked up his arm and shook it. He woke up and looked at her, drowsily rubbing his eyes. 

"Oh… hey, Max. What time is it?"

"One."

"So what did you find?" She gave him the camera. He took a small cord out of a desk drawer and hooked one end to the camera and one end to his computer. He started looking at the pictures on the screen. 

"Oh, these are great, thank you. Hopefully if I show these to the public it'll be enough to embarrass him."

"So did you find out why he needs all the guns?" she asked him. If she was going to be doing all this work, she might as well know what for. 

"He's got workers in South America working for next to nothing. They're on strike, trying to make a few more pennies a week. So he figures he'll get some guys over there and shoot them all before they tell too many people about the working conditions. Then he'll just hire some new people."

"Nice guy. So shouldn't I have stopped the boat or something? The guns are just going to get over there and there'll be a whole lot of dead workers."

"Not if I can get these on TV first. I got a friend to send me some pics of the striking workers. If I can get this broadcast, Lhite's guys are going down. You did good, Max. Thanks, again." 

"No problem. But you owe me."

"I know. You can crash here if you want. It's late," he told her. 

"I'm not tired. I think I'll just leave you with your dreams and try to find something to do. Thanks, though." She smiled at him and left. 

***********

Space Needle

2:00 AM

_I hope Logan can get that stuff broadcast soon. Hanging around him has actually made me start to care about other people. I'm making myself sick. It's like it's contagious or something- but I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing._

***********

November 10th, 2019

Jam Pony

8:30 PM

"Excuse me, what happened to you last night?" Original Cindy asked as Max slammed her locker shut. "Allow me to replay our conversation to refresh your memory. 'Max, see you at Crash tonight?' 'Be there at eight.' Except, I show up at eight, and- no Max. What has been your dealio the last couple of weeks? That's the third time you've stood me up in a month." 

"I completely forgot."

"Like that's supposed to make me feel better."

"I'm sorry! I had work to do."

"Yeah right." Original Cindy rolled her eyes and walked away. Max followed her and turned her around. 

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you ditched me to kick it with your billionaire boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend. And we weren't kicking it. And I WAS working. And he's not a billionaire. I don't think," Max corrected her friend hastily. Original Cindy rolled her eyes again. As usual, Max ignored her friend's remarks and went to find something to do. 

"Got a run for North Square," Normal yelled as he threw the package at her. She picked up her bike and left with the package. 

Streets of Seattle 

9:00 AM

Max found the building and leaned her bike up against the wall. She banged on the door. 

"Jam Pony messenger," she called. The door was quickly opened by a man with a gray beard down to his knees and very wide eyes. 

"You a messengah, yes? Take me to messiah, yes?" _Oh great. Another whack job is just what I need. _She spoke very loud and slow, as if talking to a three year old. 

"I'm delivering this package. I need you to write your name right there." She waited as the man took the slip and started scribbling on it. "Thank you for using Jam Pony," she told him as he stood at the door watching her with even wider eyes. He was standing still, staring straight ahead. He suddenly made a salute.

"Potato salad!" he yelled, still saluting. She went back to the door and closed it because he was creeping her out. Then she looked at the slip he had signed, which was covered in gibberish. _Great. Now Normal can bust my chops for not getting a signature. _She got back on her bike and headed back to Jam Pony. 

Jam Pony

9:30 AM

Max put the "signature" in the designated box and headed over to her locker. Original Cindy saw her and came over. 

"I'll give you one last chance. See you tonight?"

"Be there at seven."

"You betta be." She walked away.

Crash

7:20 PM

"I don't see how you can hang with someone like your little whitey-tightey rich boy. Where'd he get all that chedda anyways?" Original Cindy asked between breaths. 

"Inheritance. He's not like some snotty little kid or whatever. He's nice. He feeds me."

"Plus, he's hot," Kendra added as she came back from the bar. Original Cindy rolled her eyes at that. 

"I do not understand you heterosexuals." At that moment, Logan walked in. "Speak of the devil." Logan looked somewhat confused, but then turned to Max. 

"I need a favor." Logan told her.

"What else is new," Original Cindy butted in.

"Sorry. Busy." Max said, but kept dancing.

"It's gotta be taken care of." Max sighed. 

"This better be major. Original Cindy said she'd dump me if I dismissed her one more time."

"It is. Can we go outside to talk about this?" This annoyed Max even more, but she started out the door with Logan tagging behind. 

"So what's up?" she asked, obviously wanting him to hurry. 

"Well, you know our friend Mr. Lhite? My little broadcast didn't work. He killed all the workers. Some of them were as young as eight years old."

"So? I did what you asked me to. I don't see how this involves me."

"I need you to do something for me." Max let out a long, slightly angry sigh.

"Who, where, when, and how dead?"

"Ramundo Lhite, military base in sector two, tomorrow at 11:30 PM. Autopsy needs to say suicide." 

"Got it. I'll throw him off a building or something." She turned, but didn't leave. Then she turned back. "Why do you care so much? It's not going to affect you if a bunch of people in South America get squashed."

"Still, I can't just sit and do nothing if I know there's going to be hundreds of murders."

"That's what I don't get. For years I sat around doing nothing. You're actually making me feel guilty. How do you do it? It's like you care about these people you've never even met more than you do about-" she paused, changing her mind about what to say.

"What?" Logan asked, after a few seconds. 

"Yourself." Max answered, without looking him in the eyes.

"Oh." He seemed just slightly disappointed. "That's not true. It's just that I already have more than I need. Money, a place to live, food… friends." She smiled.

"Wait a minute. _Friends_? As in a _plural_ noun? I was under the impression that I was the only one." 

"You know what I mean. Now about that favor…"

"Yeah, yeah. 11:30 tomorrow night."

"Come over to my place first. I gotta give you some stuff. How about… eight? You can stay for dinner."

"How could I say no to free food?"

"I'll see ya at eight."

"See ya." And with that she turned and went back into Crash. 

"You are wrapped around that boy's finger like a yo-yo," Original Cindy said to Max when she came over. 

"Shut up. Lez dance."

"Aiight Boo."

November 11th, 2019

7:00 PM

Max's Apartment

"Hey Kendra. I'm going out. Be back late."

"Whoa whoa whoa. You wouldn't happen to be going over to Logan's, would you?" Kendra asked with a nefarious smile. 

"Just to have dinner. I got a job I gotta do at 11:30."

"You're not going like that, are you?"

"Yeah, why?" Max glanced down at her usual work attire: a black leather jacket and pants.

"Come on, Max. The guy asks you over for dinner at…" she looks at the clock. "Eight on a Saturday night and you're not even gonna get a _little_ dressed up for him?"

"Look, I told you about a thousand times. We're not like that."

"I gotta give him credit. He must be pretty discreet. You're a sharp girl Max- if you can't see that he loves you-"

"Stop RIGHT there."

"Fine. But can I please find you something better to wear?"

"If I let you dress me will you stop bothering me and let me go?" 

"Yes." Max sighed. 

"Fine," Max finally agreed. With that, Kendra grabbed her arm and pulled her into her room.

~ 15 minutes later ~

"Perfect." Kendra was looking at Max in the mirror, admiring her own handiwork. Max wasn't quite so sure. Her lips were brighter red, her skirt was way shorter, and the fabric covering her shoulders and back was virtually nonexistent. Max's expression conveyed less than happiness. 

"Come on, Max, you said that I could pick your outfit. This is what I pick. Now go!" Max groaned, picked up the bag with her other clothes in it for later, and left on her motorcycle. She realized how weird it was, riding her bike in heels. She heard quite a few whistles as she sped by guys on the street, but just ignored them and went faster. 

7:57 PM

Logan's Apartment

Logan had been cooking for three hours waiting for Max to get there. She was supposed to arrive in a few minutes, and he was putting the finishing touches on his apartment, which was filled with candlelight, soft music, and wonderful smells. He was staring out his window, lost in thought, when he heard footsteps behind him. He saw her smiling reflection in the glass and his eyes bugged out slightly. She laughed at his reaction. 

"You like?" she asked, embarrassing him. "I was Kendra's guinea pig." He brightened up a little, and it was his turn to laugh. "So what are we eating?" she asked, feeling her stomach rumble. 

"How does portmanteau lamb chops with a pre-pulse bottle of Louis St. Georges sound?" 

"Mmmmm… perfect. Once again, you've outdone yourself. You spoil me too much."

"Oh, but it's so much fun." They both sat down and started eating. 

"So what kind of security am I gonna be running into?" she asked. "By the way, this food is awesome, Logan."

"Thanks. It's gonna be pretty tough. You gotta be extra careful. I got a layout of the guard positions. Searchlights, auto rifles- he's got that place totally covered. I wouldn't be sending you in if it wasn't absolutely necessary." 

"But even if I knock Lhite off the totem pole, won't there be some other pesky creep just waiting to take his place?"

"I don't think so. Pretty much everyone hates him, they're just too scared to do anything about it. Once he's gone, this should be over." 

"And the great Eyes Only's mission will be complete. At least for the moment." _And what's that supposed to mean?_ Logan thought. But his questions weren't answered because she spoke again. 

"So what do we do now?" It was only 8:30 and they were done with dinner. 

"Umm… we could watch some TV," Logan said. "After we clean up, of course."

"K." They started picking up the dishes. They both turned around at the same time and knocked into each other. She stood there for a few seconds, against him, staring. Then she looked up at his face. They both forced out a laugh at the same time and continued cleaning up. When they finished, they went into the living room and sat down next to each other to watch TV. Logan turned it on. Max just sat there quietly, on the couch next to Logan. After a few minutes of silence, Max sighed and got an annoyed look on her face. 

"You know what, Logan? I'm sick of this." 

"Of what?"

"Of this. This sexual tension between us." A look of confusion came over Logan's face. "Don't play the fool here, you know what I'm talking about. It's there. It's always been there. And I'm sick of it!" Logan's look of confusion was replaced with one of understanding. "Would it be so hard for you to just reach out and-" 

"Kiss you?" Logan cut her off. She blushed.

"Well… yeah. I mean, I know I'm not exactly a "normal" female, but did you ever stop to think that I might be too scared to make the first move?" _She actually admitted that she's scared. OK Cale, don't screw this up. You have this woman sitting here, asking you to kiss her. Don't let your cocky ego mess it up. Just do something before you ruin it-_

"Logan?" her voice broke into his thoughts.

"What?"

"Still here?" she had a slight smirk. 

"Oh. Yeah. I was just… thinking."

"About?" she asked, still smirking.

"You." Her smirk was replaced with a full- blown grin. He saw his chance and took it. Max broke the kiss after a minute or two, sensing Logan needed a breather.

"Wow," Max said, breathing slightly irregularly. He smiled.

"'Wow'? Thanks, no one's ever 'wow'ed my kisses before."

"Well, it wasn't that great. I think you can do better." Logan's smile got even bigger, if possible, in the split second before he assaulted her with his mouth, pushing her backward on the couch. She smiled as he kissed her, caught off guard, flung backwards into the cushions.

"Um…Logan?" she paused, and Logan looked up into her eyes, searching for what she was going to say, hoping she wasn't going to leave. "Not to ruin the moment or anything, but don't I have a job to do?"

"Later," he replied, enjoying himself too much. They continued for a few minutes, until he abruptly got off the couch.

"Ok, up you go," he said, motioning to her to follow him off the couch.

"What?" 

"Like you said, there's a job to be done." She stood up.

"Oh, so that's it."

"Look, I don't like it either, but it's gotta be done. Besides, recent polls show that ninety percent of spur of the moment activities turn out badly." 

"Why do you have to be so motivated? Wouldn't you rather just throw caution to the wind and have crazy sex until morning? It's so much more fun that way." Logan turned absolutely pale. Max threw her head back laughing. 

"Aww, sweetheart, it's OK," she said as she pressed her forehead against his. "I hope you know you've chosen a very wicked girl for your girlfriend." Logan shrugged. He surprised her by lifting her up and carrying her into the computer room. When he got into his office, he set her down carefully in a chair and sat down.

"You've gotta be extra careful on this job. I'd absolutely _kill_ myself if anything happened to you. _Especially_ if it was my fault. I really don't want to send you, but… I have to." 

"It's OK, Logan. I'll be careful. And I'll report straight to base afterwards." 

"Here's the address. Now go, and _please_ come back in one piece."

"Alright, alright. I'll try and stay out of trouble. I gotta go change first. Can I use your bedroom?" 

"Of course."

"Thanks. Back in a minute."

When she came back, changed, he stood up and walked her to the door. There was a second of awkwardness, until Max decided to go for it. She grabbed his shirt, pushed him up against the door, and kissed him like she was about to go on a suicide mission. When she let go, she straightened her jacket and headed out the door and into the elevator. He followed her to the elevator and stood there until the doors started to close. 

"A superhero's work is never done. I'll see you in around… three hours? How's that sound?" The doors closed before he could answer. 

November 11th, 2019

11:20 PM

Military base. Sector 2. 

Max got to the place early. She went inside. _For a military base, this place looks remarkably like an office building._ There were name plates and room numbers on the wall, just like in an office building. It was hardly what you would call secretive. She ran her finger down the plates, looking for the right one in the dark. _Hmmm… bingo._ It read: Lhite, R. 219. She decided to take the stairs, since they elevator probably had an alarm. She started up quietly, looking out for guards. Surprisingly, she got up to the second floor with no trouble. _Hmmm… no guards. Why does that worry me?_ She put her ear up to door number 219, to listen and see if anyone was inside. She didn't hear anything, so she opened the door. Inside there was a desk, with pictures, papers. There was a file cabinet and a bookcase filled with books. Diplomas and certificates hung on the wall behind the desk- just a regular office. _OK, this is starting to get weird._ Realizing that her mission wasn't going as planned, since Lhite wasn't in his office, she decided it was time to bail out. She went out the door and walked down the hall, back towards the stairs, staying against the wall in case of security cameras. She got back down to the doors she had come in through. She snuck outside. The fence she had climbed over coming in was about forty feet away, and she looked around and saw about ten searchlights. _It's now or never._ She made a run for it. Almost instantly, she felt the lights on her and heard alarms going off. She switched herself into top gear as she heard gunshots whiz past her. _Fuck! What the hell? Something bit me! Keep going, Max, you're almost at the fence! OK, don't panic. Just calm down and jump over._ She didn't realize she had been shot in the leg. In the back of her thigh. She got to the fence and jumped with all of her strength, but only made it up about four feet. Her body slammed into the fence and fell to the ground, shaking violently, her body wracked with seizures. _Perfect timing for crossed wires in the brain._ She heard men rush up around her. Everything was hazy from her shaking. She saw guns and heard shouts. Then she felt herself being dragged away. _OK. I think I'm officially fucked._

********

November 12th, 2019

4:00 AM

Logan's Apartment

Logan had been pacing around his apartment for about an hour trying to keep himself busy. The only thing he could think of was Max was late, she was in trouble, and he was the one who put her there. _I can't lose her. Not now. Not after everything that happened. _Without another thought, he went downstairs, jumped in his car, and headed over to sector 2.

~ 15 minutes later ~

Logan made it to the sector checkpoint right outside the military base with relative ease. As he pulled over for the car search, he overheard a conversation that was taking place between the three officers at the checkpoint.

"If you ask me, he's blowing this way out of proportion."

"Ya got that right. She was probably just a thief."

"Yeah, he shouldn't have sicked all them guards on her like he did. Shoot a gun in the air, scare her off. She'll be too afraid to come back here again."

"You said it." The guard began to approach Logan's car. "Open the hatch, please." Logan did so, and when the guard had checked the trunk and the rest of the car, Logan started talking to him. 

"So what's going on?" Logan asked when the officer came back to his window. 

"Thief broke in. They took her inside. Beat her up pretty good, I heard. Boss is real mad."

"Her?" Logan asked. He knew it was Max, he was just playing dumb.

"Yeah. Can you believe they're doing all this for one girl?"

"That is pretty stupid." Logan said, his worry mounting every second.

"Well, you're free to go."

"Thanks." When Logan got past the checkpoint, he drove for about thirty seconds, so the guards wouldn't be watching. Then he swerved around, driving straight through the fence and onto the base grounds. He knew it would be less then thirty seconds until the place was swarming with officers, but he didn't care. All that mattered was Max. He jumped out of his car, gun in hand, and ran through the door. He backed up against the wall, out of sight in the shadows, as two guards walked past him talking. 

"Yeah. He sent me to do something with the girl. I'm going there now… they said she was sick. Shaking or something. I don't know, we're supposed to take care of it." _Oh my god… she's seizing… it can't be… I've gotta get her the hell out of here!_ Logan quietly followed the guards down the hall, staying out of sight. They turned left twice, then right, then went up a flight of stairs, turned left, then right again. Logan, staying out of anyone's field of vision, peered around the wall he was standing behind. What he saw absolutely killed him. It was a room, with three guards. Lhite was there. And in the middle of the room, a chair, with Max convulsing violently, tied to it, in a way so that she would stay sitting up and not fall over. Logan felt absolutely helpless. The guards were much better protected than he, with his tiny little pistol, and them, with automatic weapons. He noticed the right thigh of Max's pants was totally blood drenched and red, and she had a two-inch gash across her cheek. His heart broke, but at the same time he was absolutely brimming with rage. He listened to the questions Lhite asked Max.

"Who sent you?" he yelled.

"N-n-n-no o-o-on-ne." she replied, too exhausted for her usual comebacks. He replied with a slap across her face which sent blood dripping from her mouth onto the floor. Logan felt rage and hatred building up inside himself at this man who was killing his love.

"Now, who sent you? Don't lie to me again or the punishment will be much more severe." Max started to say something, but couldn't get it out and replied with a long groan. The chair legs were bouncing up and down on the floor. Sonrisa nodded to the men, who drew their guns. Logan didn't even have to think about what he was doing. He walked in, being next to Lhite when he entered the room. Lhite saw Logan's gun, and proceeded to try to retreat out of the door. His attempts were dashed, though, when his faithful men tried to fire on Logan and caught him instead. He was killed instantly, along with one of the three guards. Logan drew his gun and shot the other two before they knew what was happening. They fell to the floor, crying out in pain. 

"Max? Can you hear me?" She didn't reply. He quickly untied her, his hands shaking almost as hard as her body. When he had untied her, he lifted her up in his arms like a baby and ran out of the door. His feet somehow carried him back through the maze of hallways and stairs until he found his way, shooting two guards in the arms or legs on his way back to the door he had come in. He managed to put her in the front seat, jump in the car, and escape with just a broken back window and a few bullet holes in the fenders. He looked over at Max, a shaking, sweaty, bloody mess, and tried to reassure her on the way home, not quite sure if she was conscious. 

~ 10 minutes later, at Logan's ~

Logan got Max out of the car and upstairs in record time. Luckily his doorman was asleep and didn't notice the bloody couple waltzing in through the front door. He laid her on his bed and went into his bathroom to get her medicine. He ran back to his room, only to find Max asleep, which was about the worst thing he could have found. 

"Max, wake up, look at me. Open your eyes." He touched her face and gently shook her arms trying to get her to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open and she made a low groaning sound, still shaking. "Max, swallow these. Max?" She was still looking at him, so he decided that was as good a response as any and proceeded to open her mouth and pop in two pills. She left them in there for about ten seconds, and slowly swallowed. Logan held his breath, hoping she wouldn't choke. She was fine for about a minute, but still shaking slightly. Logan decided he better have a look at her leg. He went back to the bathroom and dampened a wash cloth to wipe away some of the blood. When he came back, he saw the bullet hole on the back of the thigh of her pants and ripped the pants at the hole a little so he could get to the wound. He wiped the blood away and stared at the little hole in her leg where a bullet had obviously entered. He couldn't take it out by himself, and he couldn't take her to a doctor, so he wiped it as best he could and decided he would call Bling later. He was the closest thing to a doctor he knew and could trust- he would just have to help. He covered it in gauze and bandages, slowing the blood flow. He sat down next to her by the bed, holding her hand until he fell asleep. 

1:30 PM (9 hours later)

Max woke up confused. She realized she was holding Logan's hand and he was leaning onto the bed but sitting in a chair. He woke up at the sound of her voice. 

"Hey, you're awake. You OK?" he instantly went on alert, checking if she needed anything and making sure she was all right.

"Yeah, I think so… my leg is aching like hell and I have a pounding headache, but other than that I've never been better. Mind clueing me in?"

"You got shot and captured when you were looking for Lhite. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have sent you. I should have gotten someone else to do it," Logan said. Max smiled. 

"So… did we get him?" she asked. Logan was surprised. _She almost dies and she's actually still worried about the mission? That's new._

"Yeah. Actually, his own men killed him. By accident."

"Cool. One less scumbag to deal with." She paused. "Sorry." He looked at her incredulously.

"For what?!"

"For totally screwing everything up. You shouldn't have had to come in after me. You risked your li-"

"It's not your fault that you have seizures or that the plan didn't go right. If anyone's, it's mine, for sending you in there. It was stupid of me to send you in by yourself with no backup plan or anything. I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot. I can't believe you got shot."

"At least self-repair is included in the benefits of being manufactured. Everything heals faster. You couldn't have known this would happen. I didn't have to go if I didn't want to help."

"I'm just glad that I got there in time to get you out." He hugged her, both just happy to be alive and together. "Well, I was gonna make you dinner tonight to try and start making it up to you, but… since you don't blame me…" Logan said. Max laughed. 

"Well, you _did_ send me in there… maybe it was just a _little _your fault." Logan laughed, and then kissed her. She pulled back after a minute.

"I'm all for this, but almost dying really takes it out of ya. How bout that meal?" He grinned and got up to head for the doorway. 

"Go to sleep, I'll bring lunch in a little while. You've had a long night, and we still gotta get that thing out of your leg," Logan said, looking back at her.

"Who are you, my mother?" She smiled to let him know she was joking and he left to go cook. She fell asleep… trying to think about what to tell Kendra about why she didn't come home that night.


	2. 2

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, no money was made here

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, no money was made here.

***

November 17th, 2019

7:00 AM

Max and Kendra's Apartment

"And where, may I ask, have you been?" Kendra asked as Max walked through the door of their apartment. She had been gone for almost a week while her leg was healing. _What should I say? I'll just tell her the truth. Let her think what she wants._

"I was over at Logan's. I would have called, but, you know, the whole thing about us not having a phone sorta put a damper on my efforts." Max said as she went in to her room, Kendra on her heels, dumped her bag on her bed, laid down on it, and closed her eyes. 

"You couldn't have come over here in person? Or were you too busy?" 

"Actually, yeah, I was too busy. I came as soon as I could. I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Too busy gettin busy," Kendra muttered, under her breath, as she left Max's room, slamming the door. Max heard it anyway, but didn't really care. She hadn't actually really done any "getting busy," but was too tired to refute her friend's misguided comments. Mostly she spent the time at his place resting up after they had gotten Bling over there to take the bullet out of her leg. Both the guys (Logan and Bling) had made her do three days of exercises, to make sure she was still ok, but of course she had been and left before they made her do any more stretches. She liked Logan and all, but she was sick of sitting around doing reps. And she wasn't exactly in the mood for girl talk, either, so she pretended to be tired and made herself fall asleep for half an hour, before she had to go to work.

8:00 AM

Jam Pony

"You feelin betta boo?" Original Cindy asked while Max was at her locker.

"How do you know I wasn't feelin good?" Max asked, suspiciously. She knew Logan had covered for her, but wasn't sure exactly what he had said. 

"Your boyfriend called and said you'd be out sick a couple a days." 

"Oh. Yeah. Much better." _Thank you, Logan._ She wasn't looking forward to explaining how she had gotten shot. She started over to the front desk to see if there were any runs.

"Wait, boo- you sure you're aiight? How'd you get that thing on your face?" Original Cindy said, stopping Max in her tracks, and lightly running her finger down the scar on her cheek. 

"Oh- this?" She asked, pointing to the line across her cheek. She had been hoping it would be gone by now, but…"Little accident." _What is that girl hiding? Oh well, I'll get it out of her one of these days_, Original Cindy thought.

"Fine, don't tell me. But you better haul ass over to Normal, he's pissed as hell."

"Thanks." She confidently stalked over to Normal, who saw her and quickly covered his mouth and nose with a rag. "Wassup?" she asked, leaning onto the counter with one elbow. He handed her a package, still covering his face. 

"Sooth Muphet Spheet," he said, his voice muffled. She rolled her eyes at his pathetic attempt at germ-fighting and walked over to get her bike. _At least he's not gonna interrogate me_. She jumped on her bike and headed over to South Market.

South Market

8:25

After she delivered the package, she started back towards Jam Pony, only to be almost run over by a giant black SUV in the middle of the road. The man in the front seat looked at her funny, with an evil glint in his eye. He broke her resolve and she was frozen to the spot until the very last second when her "defense genes" kicked in. But she wasn't so fixated on the fact that she had almost been killed. 

Lydecker was in town.

She grabbed her bike and pedaled so hard it felt like her feet would fall off. She heard the car swerving around after her and she switched into an even higher gear. She moved through the labyrinth of streets until she knew she was far enough away to look over her shoulder. She'd lost him. But that helped very little to uplift her disposition.

"Logan!? Logan!" Max yelled as she rushed through Logan's apartment, after forsaking her original plan of heading back to work. She had to get out of there, but it wasn't like she could just pick up and leave like they taught her to. She knew that you couldn't just ditch people, even though it would probably be safer for her. And Lydecker was smart, he would definitely be able to tell she was a messenger. He'd find Jam Pony and kill everyone who knew her, for sure. She wasn't about to let everyone she loved be killed. That's why she went over to Logan's. I mean, if anything, the guy was secretive. Hell, he based his whole operation on secrets. And it was unlikely that Lydecker would trace her to him. 

"What's up?" Logan asked, coming out of his bedroom and putting his arms around her waist. She pushed him away and continued over to his phone. She dialed the Jam Pony number and got Sketchy.

"Satan's stockade here, Sketchy speakin," he answered. 

"This is Max. Don't ask questions, just listen and do what I say. You, Herbal, and Original Cindy gotta get over to Fogle Towers, apartment 210 B. Tell my homegirl to pick up Kendra and bring her, too. Make up an excuse for Normal. It is imperative that you don't tell him where you are going. It's an emergency. Just do it," she said imperiously.

"I'll say we have appendicitis," Sketchy said, obviously picking up her dominant tone. She quickly hung up. Logan was looking very confused as to why she was asking all her friends over to his house.

"Lydecker," she stated simply, and a look of recognition flitted over his features before it turned to dark fear. "Look, I'm gonna need to get out of here." She was trying to act nonchalant about the whole ordeal. 

"What happened?"

"I was on a run. He almost ran me over and he recognized me," she answered. "He had that same "I'm gonna kill you" look he always has with us kids, and we played our little game of cat and mouse until I lost him," she added with hate in her voice. Logan came up and put his arms around her again, and she almost laid her head down, but pushed him away. "No! Don't you get it? Do you know what it's like to have one person be in total control of your life? He could destroy me and everything around me in about ten minutes. Do you know what that's like? No! And it sure as hell won't be solved with a big hug!" she yelled. Logan stood in silence, since that was about the only thing he could do and not piss her off. "Sorry. It's not your fault."

"OK. So, there has to be a way to fix this. Letting anything happen to you or your friends isn't an option. It was a good idea getting them over here, Lydecker probably won't connect the dots all the way up to me. So we just gotta make sure he doesn't find us. I know I can get one or two people into Mexico, but six… it's gonna be hard."

"Well what are we gonna do when we get there? When they come over I can't just say 'hey guys, we're going on a permanent vacation to Mexico,'" she said. 

"No, but that's a good idea,"

"What?!"

"The vacation. We'll tell them I've got six tickets that are only good for another week. Then we'll stay down there for awhile until this dies down and Donald expects that you've left."

"What happens if they don't wanna go? What about Normal?"

"You've forgotten my alter-ego." Max thought it all through in her head and looked back up, just slightly relieved that they had a plan instead of making it up as they go along.

"I should have known it would come in handy being the girlfriend of an underground cyber-journalist," she said. "So what do we do now?"

"Wait for them to come over. I'll go try and find some tickets. I know you don't sleep but you might wanna try and get some rest. I have a feeling we've got a long road ahead."

11:00 AM

Logan's Apartment

"Road trip! Yeah! Now, just when I think the world is devoid of all caring, generous people, I meet Mr. Logan Cale here and everything turns around," Sketchy said after getting the full story from Max (except for a few _minor_ details). Original Cindy was skeptical.

"What about work? It'll be a miracle if we don't get fired, and even if Normal lets us back he's gonna work our asses double time."

"It's taken care of," Logan said from the chair he was sitting in from across the room. Original Cindy shot him a glare, as if to say 'who asked you?' but she wasn't about to slap a gift horse in the mouth. 

"So… you in?" Max asked, pleadingly. 

"Yea. On two conditions."

"Anything," Max said. She wanted to hurry up and get out of there, but couldn't let her friends get suspicious.

"One. Normal will not be pissy with us when we get back."

"Done."

"Two. I don't wanna see any kissin, huggin, makin out, pretty much all- around close proximity between the two a you. If Original Cindy wants to be nauseous she'll think of Sketchy naked. Understand?" she asked, seriously. Max would have laughed had she not had the whole Lydecker thing on her back.

"Done," she said, trying to end the conversation and comply with all of her friend's requests so they could get the hell out. Original Cindy smiled, satisfied. 

"Aiight! So when do we leave?"

"Tonight," Max said. Cindy, Herbal, Sketchy, and Kendra gaped at her like she was crazy.

"Good one, boo. But seriously, when are we leavin?"

"Tonight! We'll drive y'all over to get your stuff then we're on our way. Plane leaves tonight. Can't miss it."

"I guess… OK." 

"Great," Max said, contented that something was actually working out. Sketchy, Herbal, Cindy and Kendra proceeded to talk about what they were going to do in Mexico while Logan and Max talked in his little office.

"Well, at least one thing's going to plan," Max said, sighing, rubbing her throbbing head with her hand. 

"It's gonna be OK, you know," Logan said, reassuringly. She nodded, a cynical smile on her face.

"Yeah. Hopefully."

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

"Are we there yet?" Sketchy asked from the back of the tiny car they rented. They had to drive forty miles from the airport to get to their hotel. Forty miles, coupled with never-ending sector checkpoints, a very limited and cramped amount of space, a psycho murder-obsessed colonel gunning for her, and Sketchy's incessant wailing, equaled no patience and an aching head for Max. She turned around and grabbed him by the shirt collar, putting her face right up to his.

"Soon, just like the other twenty-three times you asked. Now, would you please SHUT UP?" she yelled. He squeaked something at her out of fear and she let him slump back in his seat, muttering. She closed her eyes and held her forehead in her fingers. Logan sat silently; knowing that anything he could say would just make her explode. Despite the never-ending sun this wasn't exactly a vacation- especially not for Max. Needless to say, their "relationship" had taken a back seat to this bent awakening to the real world. He looked back over at Max. She was vacantly staring out over the desert, but her eyes. Her eyes were teeming with anxiety, resolve. He turned back to the wheel and, unnoticeably, sped up.

November 18th, 2019

Veracruz, Mexico

1:00 PM

They drove down to their hotel in Veracruz, called Él Cacahuete Poco, and got three rooms, all next to each other. Herbal and Sketchy were in the first, then Cindy and Kendra, then Max and Logan. The hotel was, well, definitely not Logan's penthouse. But it wasn't exactly the squatter neighborhood either. They were mostly just happy to get out of that sweaty little car. 

"Kendra and I are headin down to the beach. You comin boo?" Cindy asked after knocking on the door that connected her room with Max's. Max, being totally stressed out, decided maybe some fun in the sun was exactly what she needed. Besides, Lydecker wouldn't catch on to her down here- no use wasting a perfectly good beach.

"Yeah. Lemme get my suit and I'll be out in a sec." She decided against bringing Logan and left him to get bored out of his mind by Sketchy and try to decipher Herbal's dialect… a feat he hadn't yet accomplished. 

La Playa de María, Veracruz

3:30 PM

After being absolutely burnt from two hours of swimming and being gawked at by the passersby at the beach, Max, Cindy, and Kendra decided they'd heard one too many "guapa"s and got ready to head back to the hotel. 

"So wassup wit you and your boy, anyways?" Original Cindy asked Max, trying to purge from her memory the thought of about twenty males coming on to her by changing the conversation subject matter. 

"That whole situation's pretty much… chilled out," Max replied, mentally berating herself for lying to her best friends. The "situation" had done _anything_ but chilled out.

"But it is… or, _was_… a situation," Kendra said.

"I guess," Max said, letting it drop. Cindy and Kendra exchanged glances but kept walking towards the car. They headed back to the hotel, only to find Logan… well… not _exactly_ at his finest hour. He, Sketchy, and Herbal were energetically performing a very slurred presentation of "I Will Survive" for an invisible audience. Logan smiled his lopsided drunken-innocence smile at Max as she came through the door. 

"I leave him alone for two seconds and he can't even handle Sketchy and Herbal…" she muttered, but couldn't help the amused smile that played across her lips.

"Boys! That, right there, yes!! _That _one! _That_ is my lady. Isn't she pretty?" He stumbled over to her. "You're pretty." Max was highly amused, yet mortified as she heard Kendra and Cindy's fits of laughter from behind.

"OK, Logie, party's over. Time for bed," she said, picking him up off the floor, where he had collapsed in a heap. She walked through to their room and plopped him down on the bed where he burrowed his face into the pillow and fell asleep almost instantly. Max laid in bed all night thinking about what she was going to do. Sooner or later she was going to have to go back to Seattle. Most likely sooner. And whether or not she would have to face everything was still up in the air.

^*^*^*^*^

"Ahhh… ya know, you hear stories, but… aghhh…" Logan said, as Max took care of him when he woke up in the morning with a hangover the size of Texas.

"Here ya go," she said as she handed him aspirin and a glass of water. "I leave you alone for a couple of hours and you can't even handle Sketchy? It's called peer pressure, Logan. Just say no." The door to Original Cindy and Kendra's room cracked open slightly. 

"How's everything goin?" Kendra whispered from the other side. Logan grimaced. 

"AGH! Not so loud!" he said, gripping his forehead and squeezing his eyes shut. 

"That good, huh," Kendra said as she closed the door and retreated into her room. Max laughed again, quietly.

"You're laughing at my pain?" Logan asked, obviously in agony. Max tried to keep her face straight and crawled back into bed. As much as it must've hurt him, it was giving her a welcome release. She tried to kiss his cheek but he rolled over so he wasn't facing her. She took no offense and hugged him around the middle. 

"Look, Kendra and I are goin to the store, the two a you need anythi-" Original Cindy said as she opened the door. She stopped when she saw the two of them cuddled up together on the bed. _I see my rules are being put to good use,_ she thought as she closed the door hastily, when she saw Max's 'deer caught in the headlights' look. Cindy let out her breath on the other side of the door and laughed.

November 19th, 2019

12:00 PM

La Casa de Café

After trying to decide from six different opinions on where to go for breakfast, Max and Kendra decided they needed to satisfy their coffee fetish and they asked where they could get some. They walked into the restaurant and sat down at a table. Max and Logan got up to order from the counter and as they were waiting a man in his late forties with ugly tan colored hair stood next to them. Max glanced at him out of the corner of her eye without moving her head. He noticed and looked over at her, giving her a look that made her sick. She was literally nauseous from the site of him. 

"Eyes forward!"

Logan looked over at Max and saw her jump. He was curious but didn't want to call attention to it. He lightly touched her arm and whispered, "You OK?" She paused, staring at nothingness.

"What? Yeah. Did you hear that?"

"What?" She turned her head to him and he searched her eyes for an answer. She turned away again.

"Nothing." Just then, the cashier came back with their drinks.

"Es ciento y treinta pesos," she said, handing them the coffee. Max gave her the money.

"Gracias. Look, we gotta get outta here. I'll explain when we get back to the hotel."

"OK," Logan said, used to Max's need for sudden changes of plans.

"Come on, we're headin back," Max said to the rest of their party as she walked by their table. She handed Kendra a cup and they got up to leave. 

"But we just-" Sketchy started. Max shot him an icy glare and he shut up. Herbal suppressed a laugh and got in the car with the rest of them. 

Back at the hotel

"You can't be sure it was him, Max. It could just be a flashback or something."

"Logan. I think I'd remember the guy that tortured me for nine years. I know it was him. There were only six officers, and we're programmed with photographic memories. It _was_ a flashback, but _he_ triggered it. Either we just hit the prime retirement spot for covert operations officers, or he still works for Lydecker and they're here." Logan was silent for a second, gathering his thoughts.

"Well, let's think about this. Why would Lydecker send a man in just to watch you, without doing anything else? That just gives you time to escape."

"He's fucking with me, that's why. Never put anything past Deck. He may be smart, but you gotta admit he's a little cracked," Max said with a sardonic, cynical tone.

"So what do you want to do? Run again? Will it do any good?" Logan asked. Max looked at him like he was stupid.

"Well what would you have me do? Sit here and wait for the posse so I can go back to the clubhouse? No thanks."

"No. I thought we could use that brain of yours and come up with a plan to do something about Lydecker instead of running from him over and over again." Max looked at him, surprised he was being so fearless about this. It was more then she was doing, and she was supposed to be the revved up one. The gears in her head started turning as she came up with a strategy to take the almighty Donald down. 


	3. 3

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, no money was made here

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, no money was made here.

***

November 20th, 2019

2:30 PM

La Casa de Café, Veracruz, Mexico

Max had a covert stakeout at the coffeehouse for the next three days, waiting for the guy to come back. It was the third day, and she was inconspicuously sitting in the corner with her hair tightly pulled back into a ponytail and her black baseball hat and sunglasses on. She glanced up from the newspaper she was pretending to read with indifference just as he walked in. She stayed in the corner, beyond his field of vision, as he ordered a cup of coffee. _Funny. If he weren't an old friend of mine he'd only seem **slightly** evil_. He walked out and Max got up as soon as the door closed. He got in his car and started down the road. As soon as he was a safe distance away, Max jumped into the car and Logan drove (they had had an argument about Max going alone. Logan won).

"So you're _sure _that it's him."

"Yes! I told you before. I never forget a face." Logan paused, and looked over at Max pensively as he drove. 

"OK," he said, turning his eyes back. They drove in silence for a few more minutes, although it was _hardly_ tranquil. Logan felt kind of weird about Max being able to see the car and he couldn't, but he wasn't going to complain over something so trivial. "Still see him?" he asked. 

"Yeah." They had been driving for over twenty minutes, and were now in the midst of a desert-like area. 

"I wonder where this road leads. There haven't been any roads branching off it for like fifteen minutes now. Did you catch what it's called?"

"No. I don't think there was a sign where we started." She was trying not to think about 'where this road leads'. If it had anything to do with Lydecker, she wasn't joyfully anticipating it. She looked out the window and saw the guy stop. "Stop the car- he's getting out." Logan hit the brakes and they got out of the car and stared down the road. The guy jumped out of his car, looked around at the ground for about ten seconds, and got back in the car. He started it up and veered out, off the road. "What the hell is he doing?"

"Wherever he's headed it must be out there," Logan said. They looked at each other and both got back in the car and drove until they got to the spot where he had stopped. They didn't need to see his car anymore because he had essentially blazed a trail for them in the sand. Max looked around on the ground just like the guy had, and saw three little circles in a line drilled into the asphalt. Normally she wouldn't have even noticed it. They got back in the car and followed the tire tracks for about ten minutes. Logan stopped the car about a hundred feet before what looked like a sector checkpoint. "So what do we do now?" Logan asked. Max took off her jean jacket. Underneath she was wearing an extremely low-cut crimson tank top.

"I work my magic," Max said, getting out of the car. She smoothly sauntered over to the checkpoint. Logan was getting more uncomfortable every second. When she got to the two officers, with a virtuous (albeit seductive) smile on her face, the men brightened up a little from their long, hard day of sitting on their asses. 

"Hey baby," one of them said. He actually reached out and put his hand on her hip. _This is gonna be easier than I thought._

"Hey boys. What's a girl gotta do to get past the checkpoint?" she asked, suggestively, looking at them innocently with her big, chocolate eyes.

"Sorry, baby, boss says no one goes. Why dontcha stay here, with us? I'm sure we'll find something creative to do," he said, coming closer to her face, oblivious to the obsidian tempest that was she. She would have snapped his neck right then, if it hadn't been for the guard standing next to him with the assault rifle. She feigned a ditzy giggle.

"Sounds like fun," she said. She beckoned them both closer with her finger and furtively whispered into their ears. "But I've got work to do." She grabbed the gun and threw it skidding across the road. They didn't even have time to react as their windpipes were cut off, each by one of her hands. Their eyes drifted shut and she locked them back up into the sector post. She went back to the car. Logan was staring at her. "No problem," she said. 

"Um… are they dead?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"No. But they'll be out cold for a good three, maybe four hours." 

"Ah," he said, nodding. He started up the engine. "Remind me to kill them later," he said, driving off. Max smiled and put her jacket back on. They got about a quarter of a mile away from the checkpoint, when Max repeated her earlier statement. 

"Stop the car." Logan did. She got out.

"What's that?" he asked, seeing something small in the distance.

"A building. I can see towers around it, so I'm guessing we're not gonna get a whole lot of hospitality if we just waltz on in," Max replied. Logan didn't even have to ask to know what she was going to say next. "Look. I know you don't want me doing anything alone and all that, but I'm not letting you go in there. So don't even try. I don't want to bruise your delicate male ego or whatever, but it'll be faster and easier if I just go in there and check it out and do whatever needs doing."

"Max."

"This was my idea and I'm going alone. If anything happens I'll get out, I promi-"

"I know it's pointless to argue with you, you just have to promise you'll be careful." 

"Definitely," she replied, and they sat there for a second. Logan hugged her remarkably hard, even _she_ had to admit, and kissed her cheek just as hard.

"Not that this isn't enjoyable, but just so we're clear. It's not like this is goodbye and I have a death wish," Max reassured him, each still grasping the other.

"I know," he replied. "Just try to create as little trouble as possible and get out of there fast?"

"Scout's honor," she said, putting one hand over her heart and one in the air.

"I'm having a very hard time picturing you as a Girl Scout."

"Oh, yeah. When I was a child it was right up there on the list. Weaponry, telecommunications, sparring, brownies. I was two badges away from-"

"OK! I get the point," Logan interrupted. 

"Can I go now?" Max asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Go. Just hurry." So saying, he reached into a bag he had put in the car earlier without Max's knowledge. He pulled out a little box and opened it up. "Put this behind your ear," he said, handing her a small, circular piece of metal. "I'll be able to hear you talk, and any especially loud noises." Max took the little device and did as she was told.

"What, dontcha trust me?" she asked, climbing out of the car. She shut the door and, as she walked away, put on a confident exterior for Logan's sake. _Good thing he can't see your face._

5:00 PM

30 Mi. North of Tehuantepec

Max cautiously made her way up to the circle of lush trees surrounding the fence. Guards were everywhere. She had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. And she usually had pretty good intuition. 

"This can't be good." She hadn't realized she'd said that aloud, and she had unknowingly succeeded in making Logan quite uneasy back in the car. She heard a twig snap a few feet behind her and whipped around to find an insipid guard who hadn't even seen her yet. She soundlessly jammed his head up against the side of a tree before he had a chance to say anything. She immediately went back on alert. Not seeing or hearing anyone near, she continued on towards the fence, scaling it in less than two seconds. She landed gracefully on the other side, and moved swiftly through the shadows. The building was guarded commendably, but she could handle it since most of the watchmen were bumbling idiots. She got up to the building and moved adjacent to the wall until she found a small window near the ground. She broke the lock off and slipped inside, after checking to make sure no one was there. The room was dark. As her eyes adjusted she saw two rows of chairs, one row on each side of the room. The armrests had straps, and there was another strap that would go around the waist. As she took the room in, she noticed a table in the back with trays on it and decided to take a look, staying out of the view of the security camera. There were various tools. She picked up a scalpel and glanced with malice at the syringes in the corner. She looked back at the chairs and saw a scene playing out before her. It was a little boy in surgery with lots of doctors. If she hadn't been basically trained to smell fear (or been in his situation before), she would have been absolutely unaware of the boy's anguish, with his defiant, cool face. An officer, drinking coffee and giving orders. She blinked and it was gone. _Great, now I'm hallucinating._ She put her ear up to the door out of the room and heard someone coming. She ducked near the hinged-side of the door as it was opened and the person looked inside. She waited a minute and went out. As she walked down the hall she heard shouting and went towards it. It sounded distantly familiar, for some reason. She ducked into a medium-sized room when a guard walked by. There were five cots in a row on one side of the impeccably spotless room. She got out of there fast, feeling like she had landed right back where she escaped from a decade ago. Continuing on down the hall, she froze in place when she heard the familiar voice. _Lydecker. Show time._ She peered around the doorframe to where the voice was coming from. 

"Intruder!" a young, but powerful voice called. It was a child. Guards ran toward her and drew their guns. 

"Hold your fire! Get her!" Lydecker yelled. The guards rushed to Max to subdue her. She took out the first two with a swift roundhouse kick to the face. She grabbed the third's right shoulder with her left hand and punched his stomach with her right. He groaned and she kneed him in the crotch as he fell down, wailing. The last one ran to her and she leaned him over and elbowed him on the back of the neck. Then she turned to Lydecker and kicked his radio out of his hand before he could call in any more guards. She cornered him as the five tiny children, no more than five years old, watched, not knowing what to do. 

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now," she commanded. He was slightly disconcerted, but still maintained some of his confidence. 

"Give me one good reason why you _should_," he replied calmly. She knew that throwing a tantrum would not help so she kept her face devoid of emotions. 

"You tortured us. Used us as lab rats and worked us until we almost died. And now it seems you've learned absolutely nothing from the fact that we escaped and you've started over," she said, motioning towards the kids. Unable to hold herself she punched him, hard. Blood streamed from his nose.

"So go ahead. Why don't you just kill me," he replied, his eyes wide and wild. She stood and glared at him. "You wouldn't dare, just as I thought. You need me. I created you, and I'm the only one who knows everything about you." Max stood there, still in a fighting stance. Pictures flooded her mind of her whole life, starting at Manticore. Then to foster families. She pictured her life now, and how it had recently become perfect. Friends, a home, and Logan. The ideal existence. And Lydecker wasn't part of any of it. She didn't need him, or her past. She broke out of her thoughts and stared at him, hard, filling him with fear from her steely glare. He froze as she moved closer to his face, a wicked smile gracing her features. 

"What can I say, Donald? You brought me into this world, and I'm taking you out. Kind of ironic, isn't it?" His eyes widened.

"What about them?" he asked, motioning to the kids. "They don't know how to function without me. I raised them." Max scoffed at him, disbelieving what she'd heard.

"_Raised _them? You call what you did to us and these poor kids _raising_? You know, Deck, I always thought you were brilliant. An over-confident, psychotic, merciless, cold-hearted genius. I guess I over analyzed. You're nothing but a jackass. If you think that you were preparing them, giving them and us what _we_ needed, and _not_ just satisfying this condescending, fascist, bullshit wet dream of yours, then you're nothing but a _complete_ and _utter_ jackass." His eyes remained on her face, still wide in apprehension of what was most definitely to come. "So, Donald. What _exactly_, If I may be so bold as to ask, inspired this… benevolence?" He didn't understand, his mind spinning. He flinched at her every slight move. "What motivated you to provide for and raise these kids?" she asked, her voice draped with acrimonious incredulity at how self-righteous he was being. He was speechless. Somehow the smell of death to come had wiped away his sick sense of nobility. She raised her eyebrows and looked at him expectantly, as if to say 'Well?'. Still he didn't answer. She never really looked forward to killing someone, and this case was no exception. Although she would have far less remorse for her actions here. She was doing these kids good. The world would be better without Lydecker. He contributed nothing to society or, from what she could tell by looking at the children, was never of any comfort or support to anyone. His world revolved around tormenting people, children and adults alike. _And he just refuses to believe the fact that his precious children will overtake him, and continues on, without a care in the world. _She decided she better get this over with fast, since she might back down from what she knew needed doing. 

She looked back at the man after the bargaining going on inside her head was complete and realized that he'd drawn a gun. A single blast fired.


	4. 4

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, no money was made here

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, no money was made here.

***

November 20th, 2019

5:20 PM

30 Mi. North of Tehuantepec

A single blast fired and Lydecker fell to the ground. She stared at him, shocked, until she turned around to face the tiny bald child holding a handgun behind her. His face was cautious but Max thought she saw a smile dance in his eyes, and in the tiny pair on every other child in the room. She smiled widely at him and looked around. Going into full soldier mode, she motioned for them to follow her out the door. She led the way, and the child with the gun, whom she thought to be the leader of the group, brought up the rear, as they all watched out for guards. The children helped her, knowing the precise locations of each guard post in the building, and they had no trouble at all. Slipping through the shadows of the night, they glided through the woods and made their way to the open road. In no time they were at the car. Max went to the driver's side door and looked in the open window to find Logan with his head in his hands. She put her gloved hand on his shoulder, which startled him. 

"I heard the gunshot… I thought you were dead…" she leaned in the window and hugged him tightly for a moment before regaining her composure.

"I'm fine. Mission went to plan." Logan looked behind her at the group of five kids. "Almost."

"I see that the operation's been reinitiated," Logan said, wondering what in the hell they were going to do with these kids. 

"I couldn't just leave them in there. I figured you'd be able to find foster families or something."

"I'll do my best." Max turned back to the kids, kneeling down in front of them.

"You're going to have to trust me. I know who you are, and we'll keep you safe if you come with us." Four of them started towards the car, which surprised Max and Logan both. But the fifth, the one who'd shot Lydecker, stayed behind. Max stood up and reached out to him. He paused a few seconds, and looked back at Manticore, which was now flooded with light and shouts from guards. He turned back towards Max and took her hand. Together they ran to the car, piled in, and sped away. When they got to the hotel about an hour later, they all got out of the car. Max wasn't quite sure what to do with all these kids, and from the look on his face, neither was Logan. 

"Why don't you all just come inside, we'll figure something out," Max said. The boy shook his head. 

"We make our own way from here," he said, defiantly, but not without respect. Max looked at them for a minute. Logan just watched, being less than an authority in this area. The kid reminded her of Zack. 

"Ok." The kids turned around and started to walk. "But you have to promise me something." They turned around again to face her. "You'll always stick together. And look out for each other." The kids looked around at each other, then back at Max. The boy gave her a single nod, and signaled his team towards the woods. As the silhouettes faded away into the darkened wood, Logan placed his arm around Max's shoulder. She looked up into the sky and saw the stars glistening more brilliantly than before. The sun started to peek just over the horizon, and after watching it rise together, they walked inside. 

6:00 AM

At the hotel

Logan was greeted with a smack across his head when he finally stumbled into his hotel room that morning. 

"Where in holy freakin' hell have you been? Original Cindy's been worried sick, and she don't mess easily. You betta not've messed up my girl or I'm gonna have to beat on yo skinny ass." Logan was too tired and laid down on the bed. Max walked in a few seconds later. She was smiling and looked almost as tired as Logan. 

"Hey," she said, happily, to Original Cindy.

"Hey? HEY? You and your boy haul our asses down to Mexico for a mysterious but immediate action-pending vacation and dump us off in a ratty hotel. You left at one o'clock in the afternoon yesterday. It is now six o'clock in the morning. You don't even tell me where you're going, and all you have to say is HEY?"

"Mm hm." Max didn't lose her contented smile and laid down on the bed with Logan, deposited her arm around his waist, and fell asleep almost instantly. Original Cindy stared in awe, threw her hands up in the air, and stomped off into her room, slamming the door.

November 21st, 2019

1:00 PM

After Max and Logan woke up, they started packing, and told everyone else to do the same. Sketchy complained about not being able to go to the beach yet, and Max, being in a good mood, decided that it'd be a fun way to end their little sabbatical. So they all headed to the beach for one last day in the sun before returning to rainy Seattle. 

After Sketchy was turned down by numerous women and Kendra had gotten officially sunburned, they decided it was time to leave. Max and Logan had tried to keep away from each other, but their efforts were dashed, and Original Cindy was almost gagging. They all got in the car, went back to the hotel, packed, and headed for the airport. When they had boarded their plane, Original Cindy sensibly took a seat ten rows behind Max and Logan. Kendra joined her, and Sketchy and Herbal sat across the aisle from them. After an uneventful flight, they arrived at the Seattle airport and they all headed over to Logan's for something to eat. 

Max, Original Cindy, and Kendra were in the living room, talking, while Logan was cooking. 

"So what is it _really_ with you two?" Kendra asked Max, who smiled vacantly.

"I love him," she said, quietly. Original Cindy sighed.

"Well, you know I'm happy for y'all," Original Cindy said. She smiled at Max. "But If he eva tries takin my girl away, I'm gonna have to lay the smack down on him." Max laughed. 

"Agreed. He may be great, but I'd never leave my girls behind." Logan took this time to make his presence known. 

"Dinner is served," he said, motioning towards the dining room. Original Cindy and Kendra leapt up and went in that direction. Max stayed on the couch and watched as Logan came into the room and sat down beside her.

"You deserve an award for this," she said to him.

"The things you just said mean more than anything else could." She smiled and closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead. "Let's go eat." She nodded and they got off the couch. As the candlelight, good friends, and the feeling that she was truly safe for the first time in her life surrounded them, she relaxed.


End file.
